Review by Choice Review
This first thorough accounting of Evans' life and music comes from the perspective of a professional. Pettinger (Cambridge Univ., UK) is himself a noted pianist and his approach is at once delightfully insightful and detailed in terms of musical analysis. Further bonuses include excellent organization and documentation and an accessible yet scholarly writing style that makes this story good fodder for the jazz researcher as well as a good read for the casual customer in search of an engaging tale of a real musical genius. This is a much-needed addition to the growing list of respectable biographies of the greatest figures in the first century of jazz history. Includes a complete discography, numerous photos, and notes. An excellent choice for collections supporting studies of popular music at all levels. R. L. Greenhaw; Valdosta State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Given a biographical subject who was both a brilliant musician and a drug addict, Pettinger chooses the high road and writes almost exclusively about Bill Evans' music. He notes that Evans (1929^-80) acquired a narcotics habit that he kicked only sporadically. He mentions that Evans' musically gifted, encouraging father was alcoholic and hints at other sad realities in the pianist's upbringing and psychology. But he concentrates on describing the nightclub engagements, concerts, and recording sessions that filled Evans' entire adult life. Evans was more thoroughly classically trained and conversant--he warmed up by playing Bach and Scriabin--than all but a few jazz pianists of his and older generations. He brought deep musical romanticism and impressionism to jazz, and the greatest strength of Pettinger's writing is that, analyzing Evans' recorded legacy, almost piece by piece, he tells how Evans did it--that is, what to listen for--in terms fully accessible to the lay listener. So this is not an expose or analysis of a "tortured" artist but a fine music-lover's reference about a nonpareil artist. --Ray Olson
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
If anyone deserves a good, accessible jazz biography, it's Bill Evans, the classically trained pianist who bridged the gap between bop and cool jazz and influenced a generation of ivory ticklers. Evans left an indelible stamp on the history of jazz piano, and as a white man in a world populated mostly by black musicians, he merits special consideration. Unfortunately, Pettinger's dessicated analytical biography doesn't do justice to Evan's tumultuous, often brilliant life. The main problem here is that the author, himself an internationally renowned British concert pianist, is more interested in the piano player than in the man. After hitting some of the standard biographical notes (Evans was born in Plainfield, N.J., in 1929; talent for the piano appeared early), Pettinger dispenses with personal insights to such a degree that his book becomes more critical discography than biography. Intimates of Evans aren't described physically or characterized emotionally but are simply wrung dry of their musical content then pushed offstage. Interviews with contemporaries do provide memories of Evans, but they are often banal. In relating a life filled with romantic disappointment, extreme drug abuse and assorted illnesses that contributed to his early death in 1980, Pettinger paints only a pallid portrait of the man behind the music. Yet Pettinger is eminently qualified to assay Evan's evolution as a pianist, and students of Evans's music will no doubt enjoy the author's references to Evans's scores and academic excursions: e.g., "These four-note scale groups move down in thirds (a typical feature of the pianist's right-hand style) and they go five times into each half of the middle eight." In the end, though, fans of Evans's music may be left cold. 40 b&w photos. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Pettinger, a concert pianist, offers a sympathetic biography of the seminal jazz pianist/composer Bill Evans (1929-80). Pettinger carefully explains the pianist's merging of classical structure with jazz improvisation for a distinctively understated, lyrical sound. Using secondary sources and material from a handful of interviews, Pettinger describes Evans's emergence as a fledging sideman in New York, his first album as a leader, and his contributions to modal jazz during stints with Miles Davis. Pettinger devotes the last half of the book to the quintessential Evans trio (with drummer Paul Motian and bassist Scott LaFaro), Evans's battles with heroin and cocaine, and his gigs and recording sessions with dozens of jazz luminaries until his premature death. Though seldom linking Evans with the larger social context in which jazz became popular during the 1950s and 1960s, Pettinger provides a portrait of Evans that will serve as a foundation for further investigation of this quiet jazz giant. Recommended for jazz fans and music buffs.ÄDavid P. Szatmary, Univ. of Washington, Seattle (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
